A Social Networking Bonanza

This has been a whirlwind week, making genealogy connections through social networking (and learning what a small world this really is).

First, I got a comment on a blog post from the descendant of a collateral line. She (we’ll call her K.) said she had been referred to my site by someone on Ancestry.com. She was seeking photos of a particular couple, which I didn’t have, but as we emailed back and forth, we learned that we used to be next-door neighbors and she went to high school with my aunt. It also turns out the person who referred K. to me is my mom’s first cousin!

When I first heard from K. (before I knew who had referred her to me), I jumped on Ancestry to see who else was researching the couple from the collateral line in question. This led me to M., who did have photos. I messaged her through Ancestry, asking for permission to download said photos. She graciously agreed and has been uploading additional photos this week. She has also offered to look up information in a family heritage book that she has. I have an obituary in my to-scan stack that I intend to send her this weekend.

The third connection was through Twitter. I’m excited about this, because it’s the first connection I’ve made with a relative on Twitter. One evening, I noticed a tweet that said this tweep was researching Tuckers. I noticed she had a previous tweet commenting on the weather in Georgia. Well, I’m in Georgia and I have Tucker ancestors, so I replied asking who her Tuckers were. She replied with a list of my exact Tucker line, only she has two additional generations. I was able to share a Revolutionary War pension file with her and she has sent me a will, in return. In the small world department, we live about 25 miles away from each other.

While receiving genealogy information is not the reason that I blog or tweet, it is certainly a nice side benefit. It’s really all about the people connections, isn’t it?

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About Tonia

Hi, I am Tonia Kendrick. Genealogy is my hobby, my passion (those who say obsession would not be accused of crazy-talk). While I had helped my mom with genealogy as a teenager, I first caught the bug myself when computers came into the picture.

Now we are well into the 21st-century and every day brings a new genealogy adventure, whether it is a new record group to explore online or a visit to a cemetery, courthouse, or other repository. It all comes together here. Read more about Tonia's Roots or contact Tonia. Read More…